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Spokespersons

The nationwide emergence of the spokesperson system at the local government level will establish a standard procedure for the release of government information and has demonstrated China's determination to increase transparency in its government operations.

Dates set for handover of city blaze donations

DONATIONS for victims of the Jiaozhou Road high-rise inferno and their families will all be distributed soon, the Jing'an District Charity Foundation said yesterday.

The fire on November 15 last year killed 58 people and injured 71.

Money still to be handed over amounts to around 26.3 million yuan (US$4.1 million), officials said.

Earlier, there had been accusations that most of the donations collected after the fire had gone missing. A victims group wrote an open letter to the city government, demanding that the donations be handed out.

They said the Shanghai Charity Foundation and its district branches had received more than 44.8 million yuan, but just 4.2 million had been distributed.

The foundation denied the accusations.

Direct economic losses from the fire in the residential building were put at 158 million yuan.

The remainder of the donations will be dealt with in two ways. Money where the donors designated the recipients will go to the recipients directly. The rest will be handed out in the form of subsidies during holidays, or in summer and winter for cooling or heating supplies.

Some will be distributed at the end of the month, said the foundation.